Cradle Cincinnati

Cradle Cincinnati is trying to reach a new audience with its message of safe sleep for babies. Dads are the target of a new campaign to teach that infants should sleep alone, on their backs and in a crib. Men are three times more likely to think a baby is safer sleeping in a bed with parents than women are, according to a Cradle Cincinnati telephone survey.

Cradle Cincinnati, an organization dedicated to addressing the crisis of infant mortality in Hamilton County, released Thursday a $25 million plan to reduce the infant mortality rate in Hamilton County.

While there’s been some improvement during the past few years, Hamilton County still ranks among the worst 10 percent in the country for infant mortality. At 8.96 deaths per 1,000 live births, the county’s rate exceeds both the national and Ohio rates.

Cradle Cincinnati says it is making slow progress in bringing down Hamilton County's high infant mortality rate. Numbers released Thursday show an overall decline in the number of babies dying before their first birthdays but the 2015 death rate is higher than in 2014.

In Hamilton County, nearly one in five pregnancies is spaced less than one year apart. But the amount of time between a woman's pregnancies has a dramatic impact on infant vitality. A pregnancy conceived less than 12 months after a previous pregnancy is nearly twice as likely to result in preterm birth. A pregnancy conceived less than six months after a previous pregnancy is nearly three times as likely to result in an infant death.

The local infant mortality rate is still unacceptably high, but more babies are surviving to their first birthday in Cincinnati than in previous years. The Cincinnati Health Department is working to continue that trend, sponsoring a series of discussions for would-be, expectant and young mothers, and fathers, about family planning, healthy moms and babies.

According to Cradle Cincinnati, babies born to women who smoke during pregnancy are 44% more likely to die before their first birthday. The local organization, created to help reduce our area’s infant mortality rate, has just launched a campaign to help pregnant women stop smoking.

When it comes to infant mortality rates, Hamilton County and Cincinnati are among the worst in the nation. Between 2009 and 2013, the national average was a little over six deaths per thousand in the first year of life. For Hamilton County it was 9.9 and for the city of Cincinnati, even worse at 12.4 deaths, twice the national figure.

In its efforts to lower Hamilton County's high infant mortality rate, Cradle Cincinnati is adding up the cost of preterm births.

A study by UC's Economics Center finds preterm births cost more than $400 million each year.

County Commissioner and Cradle Cincinnati co-chair Todd Portune says "if you laid a dollar bill side-by-side, $402 million is represented by those dollars, collectively, covering the entire acreage of Lunken Airport."

On its first birthday, Cradle Cincinnati is announcing a major increase to its budget. The group which aims to reduce infant mortality is seeing its budget go from $250,000 to almost $1.3 million.

Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune calls the change a good start.

"Now that's not where we need to be because this issue requires a broad, community-wide effort," says Portune. "It's going to take more from all of us and beyond the medical community but we will get there because success is the only word that we will accept."

The launch of the StartStong initiative is the pilot for what may become a national model to lower pre-mature birthrates.

StartStrong is a geographically focused initiative to redesign healthcare delivery and reduce preterm birth rates. The program launched Tuesday evening, March 11 at Avondale Southern Baptist Church and is open to the public.